Blog homeA few years back much of the legal moves online were made by the music industry – protecting themselves from massive copyright theft through the distribution of music via various networks and websites.
With the forthcoming rise in user generated content (such as for example hotel reviews on TripAdvisor) how will travel companies “fight back”?
One answer appears to be the “if you can’t beat them, join them” concept – which Sheraton have taken on their hotels website (see Neighbourhood). Maybe the more appropriate saying is “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer” – although I can’t see them saying that their customers are enemies exactly…. !
However there does seem to be some risk taking here by the companies involved. Just today Digg - a user generated news prioritisation mechanism – has started sailing close to the rocks – because they have not been able to comply with a cease and desist letter from an owner of some intellectual property (namely a HD-DVD code). They tried to (and removed the offending user generated content), but their users forced them to put the content back up. Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, looks concerned that this may put their business at legal risk – and came up with the great comment “If we lose, then what the hell, at we least we died trying”. (See his blog post)
I don’t see too many travel company executives wanting to take that kind of risk on behalf of their users? What would TripAdvisor do if many travel companies started a “legal” approach to take down their content? Would they take it down – or out of principle keep it up? (Read this TimesOnline article that discusses these points - to quote ”However, top libel lawyers contacted by Times Travel say this may not be a strong enough defence where reviewers have defamed a hotel by making unfounded claims that could affect its reputation”)
If you remember, with music companies, once they had done with companies – they moved to individual targets (probably because they were easier). If, in the example above, the UGC company (such as TripAdvisor) doesn’t budge, maybe the individual users could be targetted by the travel companies. In the states you can slander someone in a blog comment…. (see ShoeMoney blog)…….
See the Travolution Blog for additional insight, reported yesterday, on how user generated content can be beneficial (Just to balance up the negativity in the post above!)
I am not a lawyer – and don’t suggest that lawsuits start flying (and not in this direction thank you) – I am just commenting on what could be coming next, to a user generated content website near you.
For a practical ”user generated content” tip that can be applied by smaller travel companies – work on your testimonials – make them product specific. These have been around long before the Internet, are known to work, and let you control the message. But remember, make them real not up. I found an article on a website I respect – that suggests that phoney testimonials are OK – as long as they look real….. err…. I would stick with real ones – and that website has lost much of my respect.
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